Our heroes are out of sight

A year has 365 days most of the time. This one has 366, so isnít this one a day where we can set aside petty differences?

Monte Dutton

mdutton@gastongazette.com

A year has 365 days most of the time. This one has 366, so isnít this one a day where we can set aside petty differences?

The cynic in me says no, but the idealist lingering in the shadows says, ďIsnít it something to shoot for?Ē

Money, power and influence raises barriers between us and our heroes. As hard as this may be to realize, great athletes werenít always filthy rich. More than 50 years ago, a football Hall of Famer named Johnny Unitas moved into a new Baltimore house. Another Hall of Famer, Gino Marchetti, installed a new floor for his Colts teammate.

Can you imagine Dwyane Wade doing this for LeBron James? In, say, South Beach? Uh, no. Can you imagine Wade having any idea how one installs a floor? Negatory. Many athletes are surrounded by as many aides as a Congressional candidate. Their ďpeopleĒ handle everything for them. Theyíve got lawyers, agents, accountants, trainers, a fistful of ďconsultantsĒ (whatever they are), and quite possibly a chef, a nanny, a gardener and someone who amounts to a butler, only they probably donít call him that, or even ďHobson.Ē They retain the services of tinkers, tailors and candlestick makers.

Bobby Allison competed in NASCAR from 1961 through 1988, winning 84 races (officially; he has never been given credit for one victory he earned) and a championship. Scott Speed recently surpassed Allison in career money earnings. Speedís earnings are now $7,702,926. Allisonís total is $7,673,803. Speed has competed in 106 races, and in one of them, he finished in the top five.

The rate of inflation is considerable, but enough to account for the difference in the $883,009 that Allison earned in 1983 while winning a championship and the $1,358,423 collected by Speedís team for the 17 times he raced during the recent seasonís 36-race schedule.

Itís said that money canít buy love, but it can certainly buy a lot and never more so than at Christmas time.

Despite all this expensive insulation, many of todayís stars are good guys (and gals). Itís just so much harder to relate to them. Everything is so formal, even their good deeds.

Iím not calling for the Charlotte Bobcats to have the same salary structure as the Charlotte Hounds (itís my understanding that when the Hounds are unleashed, they play lacrosse). Iím all in favor of capitalism, even the present brand that seems so out of control.

I was in Walmart last week. It wouldíve been cool to run into Cam Newton there. I saw a quarterback, but it was the one to whom I snapped the ball 37 years ago. He works for the city.